So good and so ordinary!!!!!

Sail Date:
May 2012

Destination:
Europe - Western Mediterranean

Embarkation:
Marseille

My wife and I boarded the NeoRomantica at Marseille for a cruise to LeHavre. Boarding was smooth and well organized. We boarded the ship and had to make our own way to our cabin. On arrival we were met by a bemused cabin attendant who informed us we weren't in that cabin (a balcony cabin) and someone would come down and take us to our new cabin. That didn't happen, we had to get a security man to call customer service and find out where we should be, he then took us there. We were upgraded to a Samsara class cabin, we had a larger cabin on the 14 level. We thought that was great- We were wrong!!! This was typical of the cruise, so much is good - the ship is in superb condition it is clearly 4 star, food was good though inconsistent, service could be good but you couldn't depend on it. I waited 30 minutes for poached eggs one breakfast and all the matre de could say was " sorry for not being perfect"! While service at dinner was very good and staff were very attentive.

Our More
main problem was the cabin which does vibrate a lot more than other cabins we have had. Also the water pressure in the shower was very poor, so I contacted customer service (3 times I reported it) they told me it was fixed. Next morning while I was in the shower the hot water stopped completely!

I can only think that the alterations to the ship were not completed properly as this is a new section of the ship. But the good will disappears when it becomes obvious that they don't know what to do so they try to "fob" me off!

Itinerary is good, we did 3 excursions and they varied as we were put with other nationalities and it was very obvious that English was not a priority. The crew especially waiters spoke good English and we tried to add what we could in French. We quite enjoyed the cultural experience and have travelled widely in Europe before.

We took the "extras" drink package and it is excellent value! We had a good assortment of wines to choose from. Coffee such as cappuccino was include but you could not get it at the coffee shop! You had to go to the bar! So silly!!!

Sound proofing is also a real issue on the ship. We could clearly hear other toilets, we could hear our neighboring cabin conversations and noise from the corridors is annoying! Much more than on any ship we have travelled on (we have cruised 6 times before) . How this has happened on a new section is unbelievable.

Would I recommend the ship- yes and no! If they fixed the problems then yes definitely! If they don't well I would certainly say "do not under any circumstance accept or book a samsara cabin" Hopefully they fix the issues, because the ship is a great size has a good layout and is certainly very different in structure. Less